Is it possible to do business in India without bribe

Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal January 15, 2011, 11:52 am

Being practical.

A couple of years ago, a labor inspector arrived in our office to check our provident fund records. To his utter disappointment, he found that everything was perfect and hence there was no scope for a bribe.

He still insisted on a ‘gift’. When we refused, he did the unthinkable – he sat down on the visitor’s sofa and refused to move. Not just the first day but 3 days in a row!

On the 4^th day, tired of having an ugly, smelly owl in our pristine office, we paid him some cash and bid him a happy departure.

I found it practical to bend my ethics a bit in return for the sake of sanity and the healthy atmosphere of the office!

Abey John January 15, 2011, 3:35 pm

I have heard that in the south of Tamil Nadu that you cant’ do business without paying off Alagiri…you just won’t get the approvals even if you stick to the letter of the law…also a friend of mine was setting up an ngo and i told her to avoid the bribe route and she kind of just laughed….virtually impossible she said….

in my own experience i went for a driving licence and decided not to pay a bribe but ended up paying Rs. 100 with a proper receipt n all before I left the place and realized that it was a bribe

if you decide not to bribe it is going to be a challenge…i have heard infosys doesn’t bribe but they have the muscle to throw a dedicated team at the system to crack through the approvals process and turn every stone till they get what they want…

its possible but you need to be ready for slower progress

Koshy T January 17, 2011, 10:29 am

Alok had to pay to stop a nuisance.

some time we will have to grease the palm to expedite what is rightfully ours, some time we think of paying getting a clearance out of turn (may be we need it desperately,) Sometime if we dont pay and avoid a compliance requirement (if we dont avoid we become non-competitive, as every one avoids?)

How bad is it. Is it possible to run a business without greasing palms at all. Alok’s example was about an exception. Do we have to worry about only such exceptions (if one choose to) or is exception the norm?

kinnari thacker dave January 17, 2011, 12:01 pm

We all know the answer to this…lets turn this around and ask…

“If in a Government job…what would you have done…taken a bribe or not?”

Abey John January 17, 2011, 12:08 pm

I’ve heard of honest govt officials who get sidelined and in some cases even demoted because of their integrity

kinnari thacker dave said:

We all know the answer to this…lets turn this around and ask…

“If in a Government job…what would you have done…taken a bribe or not?”

Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal January 17, 2011, 2:19 pm

In 1996, I was shipping my first container of socks to the Netherlands.

It had taken me 3 years to get one order of Rs 3 lacs.

I met the shipping deadline just on time and thankfully was able to send the container to the docks (that happened to be very near my father’s factory).

I was of sitting on my desk and taking a few deep breaths when I got a call on my desk phone (mobile was unaffordable).

My manager on the other line sounded tense and said that there was a CUSTOMS OFFICER who wanted to talk to me.

He came on the line and said ‘Mr. Alok, I think these socks being exported by you are UNDER invoiced. They are surely worth more than 3 lacs. I think there may be a case where you are taking the rest of the money overseas’.

First I tried to reason with him and explained that tax free export status made it more profitable for anyone to receive and bill all the money in India. I refused to even hear me. Then I got a bit more aggressive and asked him what his experience in evaluating sock prices were… he just shrugged of the question.

Finally, I said ‘Fine – why dont you pay me Rs 3 lacs and 1 rupee and the entire consignment is yours. If there is an under invoicing, I will pay the price and your department can auction it – like you do for flats and make profits’.

This struck him hard. He started mumbling about ‘co-operation’ and trying to ‘understand’.

I refused to yield, and finally he stamped the documents required.

Later my manager told me that we wanted Rs 500!

Abey John January 17, 2011, 2:26 pm

Like! Like!Like!Like!Like!Like!Like!Like!Like!Like!Like!Like!Like!Like! !! 🙂

Alok ‘Rodinhood’ Kejriwal said:

In 1996, I was shipping my first container of socks to the Netherlands.

It had taken me 3 years to get one order of Rs 3 lacs.

I met the shipping deadline just on time and thankfully was able to send the container to the docks (that happened to be very near my father’s factory).

I was of sitting on my desk and taking a few deep breaths when I got a call on my desk phone (mobile was unaffordable).

My manager on the other line sounded tense and said that there was a CUSTOMS OFFICER who wanted to talk to me.

He came on the line and said ‘Mr. Alok, I think these socks being exported by you are UNDER invoiced. They are surely worth more than 3 lacs. I think there may be a case where you are taking the rest of the money overseas’.

First I tried to reason with him and explained that tax free export status made it more profitable for anyone to receive and bill all the money in India. I refused to even hear me. Then I got a bit more aggressive and asked him what his experience in evaluating sock prices were… he just shrugged of the question.

Finally, I said ‘Fine – why dont you pay me Rs 3 lacs and 1 rupee and the entire consignment is yours. If there is an under invoicing, I will pay the price and your department can auction it – like you do for flats and make profits’.

This struck him hard. He started mumbling about ‘co-operation’ and trying to ‘understand’.

I refused to yield, and finally he stamped the documents required.

Later my manager told me that we wanted Rs 500!

Jayesh Gopalan January 17, 2011, 3:04 pm

I think sometimes we need to do it.
One person alone will not be able to fight with the entire system and when the entire system is corrupted from the top level.
There are some exception heard interview of N R Murthy of Infosys that they don’t give bribe but they are having the power.
In mumbai you go to any government office if you don’t give them bribe then your every files will be processed slowly and even the passport verification cop when they come to your house they say ‘Chai Paani Do’.
I think in india we need to have organisation like SEBI from the recent cases i am very impressed with them.
I need opinions from you all people should we fight with the system or go with the flow of system and giving bribe ?

Nayana Somaratna January 17, 2011, 3:33 pm

In Sri Lanka, the culture of bribery is not as endemic – you can do business (especially if the government is not a customer) without paying any bribes at all.

In fact, based on what I’ve heard and seen, there are 2 main types of bribery scenarios :

1. The ‘high level’ scenario – where you intend to do business with a government entity. A typical requirement includes ‘helping out’ a politician who will then introduce you as ‘his man’ – which vastly increases your chances of winning a tender / contract, etc.

2. The ‘low level’ scenario – this is done by low level clerks and other flunkies who casually ask you for ‘lunch money’ or ‘tea money’ in order to ‘speed up things’. They tend to avoid picking on people who appear to be well connected.

On the occasions I’ve been solicited like this, I equally casually mention that I ‘need to get back to the hospital to treat my patients’, which tends to scare them (since Doctors in general tend to know powerful people !).

Nayana Somaratna January 17, 2011, 5:04 pm

A small question – in Sri Lanka, there is an institution called the ‘Bribery Commission’ which has the authority to arrest and organize stings on such people. This is a major reason why bribery in SL is subtle and underhand, rather than being overt.

Isn’t there anything similar in India which you could have called on ?

Alok ‘Rodinhood’ Kejriwal said:

Being practical.

A couple of years ago, a labor inspector arrived in our office to check our provident fund records. To his utter disappointment, he found that everything was perfect and hence there was no scope for a bribe.

He still insisted on a ‘gift’. When we refused, he did the unthinkable – he sat down on the visitor’s sofa and refused to move. Not just the first day but 3 days in a row!

On the 4^th day, tired of having an ugly, smelly owl in our pristine office, we paid him some cash and bid him a happy departure.

I found it practical to bend my ethics a bit in return for the sake of sanity and the healthy atmosphere of the office!

Abey John January 17, 2011, 6:20 pm

Oh we have plenty of those too 🙂 The Central Vigilance Commission is headed by a guy who is facing corruption n bribery charges…India is a larger system so bigger holes to plug and we have expert thieves who have been milking the system right from the beginning…we’ll get there…

there are no easy quick fixit answers….in any case…exposes are getting deeper and richer….pretty soon they will have nowhere left to hide….

Nayana Somaratna said:

A small question – in Sri Lanka, there is an institution called the ‘Bribery Commission’ which has the authority to arrest and organize stings on such people. This is a major reason why bribery in SL is subtle and underhand, rather than being overt.

Isn’t there anything similar in India which you could have called on ?

Alok ‘Rodinhood’ Kejriwal said:

Being practical.

A couple of years ago, a labor inspector arrived in our office to check our provident fund records. To his utter disappointment, he found that everything was perfect and hence there was no scope for a bribe.

He still insisted on a ‘gift’. When we refused, he did the unthinkable – he sat down on the visitor’s sofa and refused to move. Not just the first day but 3 days in a row!

On the 4^th day, tired of having an ugly, smelly owl in our pristine office, we paid him some cash and bid him a happy departure.

I found it practical to bend my ethics a bit in return for the sake of sanity and the healthy atmosphere of the office!

Nayana Somaratna January 17, 2011, 6:23 pm

Hahahaha – I rest my case. Who watches the watchers indeed !

Abey John said:

Oh we have plenty of those too 🙂 The Central Vigilance Commission is headed by a guy who is facing corruption n bribery charges…India is a larger system so bigger holes to plug and we have expert thieves who have been milking the system right from the beginning…we’ll get there…

there are no easy quick fixit answers….in any case…exposes are getting deeper and richer….pretty soon they will have nowhere left to hide….

Nayana Somaratna said:

A small question – in Sri Lanka, there is an institution called the ‘Bribery Commission’ which has the authority to arrest and organize stings on such people. This is a major reason why bribery in SL is subtle and underhand, rather than being overt.

Isn’t there anything similar in India which you could have called on ?

Alok ‘Rodinhood’ Kejriwal said:

Being practical.

A couple of years ago, a labor inspector arrived in our office to check our provident fund records. To his utter disappointment, he found that everything was perfect and hence there was no scope for a bribe.

He still insisted on a ‘gift’. When we refused, he did the unthinkable – he sat down on the visitor’s sofa and refused to move. Not just the first day but 3 days in a row!

On the 4^th day, tired of having an ugly, smelly owl in our pristine office, we paid him some cash and bid him a happy departure.

I found it practical to bend my ethics a bit in return for the sake of sanity and the healthy atmosphere of the office!

Koshy T January 18, 2011, 2:32 am

It is true that one person cannot clean the system. It is also true one person can light a candle than curse darkness.

Do u think that if each of us say try to say no to a bribe request and take an extra effort (as done by alok) to insist our right and avoid using this as a means to get what we want (even out of turn) then gradually the tide may turn. I agree there could be times when we have no option. But can we try to limit this as an exception.

We atleast see a trend of public exposure of such scams.

I came across a site called www.ipaidabribe.com. Worth taking a look and worth supporting. this is an anonymous clearing house of bribery incidence. Set up by a socially conscious IAS officer who resigned at the pinnacle of his career.

Abey John January 18, 2011, 3:10 am

Great site Koshy. Thanks. Being a anti bribery/corruption business in today’s India is not going to be easy. It will require proactive thinking and a firm decision to not short circuit due process of what is permitted in the law books, even if it takes longer. This can be specially difficult when facing officials who have discretionary powers in granting approvals.

But something tells me … we’ll get there… so I take comfort and bite the bullet of patience.

Koshy T said:

It is true that one person cannot clean the system. It is also true one person can light a candle than curse darkness.

Do u think that if each of us say try to say no to a bribe request and take an extra effort (as done by alok) to insist our right and avoid using this as a means to get what we want (even out of turn) then gradually the tide may turn. I agree there could be times when we have no option. But can we try to limit this as an exception.

We atleast see a trend of public exposure of such scams.

I came across a site called www.ipaidabribe.com. Worth taking a look and worth supporting. this is an anonymous clearing house of bribery incidence. Set up by a socially conscious IAS officer who resigned at the pinnacle of his career.

neeraj khandelwal January 18, 2011, 4:59 am

real difficult to do business in india without giving bribe………..every stage,every field u have to bribe a person,all govt departments…..now giving bribe is in our blood….we cant live without giving bribe..lol

Koshy T January 18, 2011, 6:53 am

Do we bribe only to get what is due to us or do we us this as an excuse to buy/ get what is not due or to avoid compliance to law of land 🙂

neeraj khandelwal said:

real difficult to do business in india without giving bribe………..every stage,every field u have to bribe a person,all govt departments…..now giving bribe is in our blood….we cant live without giving bribe..lol

Himanshu Mody January 18, 2011, 7:27 am

Forget Business, I think it is not possible to even live life in general with the people in the System without bribe. Right from filing a FIR to getting various official documents , bribe is the way of life in India. Also there is a problem in how we live our lives , VIP darshans at temples etc. Last week I was with a broker to checkout office spaces, one of the places we visited was Acme plaza where they charge 50 bucks or so for visitors parking. The broker with me immediately gave him the offer, rasid nahin chahiye , ye le 20rs. , It immediately reminded me of that tata tea campaign , Log Khate hain kyun ki hum khilate hain. The guy did not take the offer though.

Jayesh Gopalan January 18, 2011, 11:21 am

I myself was placed in situation where you have two option and i choose the path where it helped my business.

I think as a start up company your main focus has to be on surviving rather than fighting the legal cases for corrutption.

Well if you have the power then its fine go ahead fight with the bureaucrats and politicians.

But it will be a tough with you against the entire system.

Recently even the CJI K.G Balakrishnan resignation is sought over corruption.
So think how deep it is ?

pankaj khandelwal January 18, 2011, 6:48 pm

To me ,things become so very simple with bribes….I’d rather that we give a bribe and get our work done….its an open fact that if you do not grease the palm,you remain without business.If you act honest ,youre the only one around ,and wearing the cap of honesty honestly gets you no awards at all.. Alok is right…bend your ethics and get on ….

Abey John January 18, 2011, 7:41 pm

the ethic bending issue is really subjective…but yes if u r fighting corruption in india as an entreprenuer u need deep pockets, enough redundancy in yr sales funnel to nullify the risks of government delays, an ability to avoid getting into/navigate situations where political clout or undue influence will either cripple you or become life threatening, a contingency plan to bounce back,

one possible mechanism to circumvent delays is to use RTI to flush information out of the system….you just need the guts/patience/fortitude to go for it…

of course in a state like chattisgarh or in the south of tn (Alagiri’s domain) any amount of public noise will have no effect and even if does they will still come after you with vindictive venom – “teach him a lesson, if he gets away with it then others will follow”; standard mafagiri….against such you need to go with full blinkers on and maybe a readiness to bend the rules if needed….

the war against corruption is not the entrepreneur’s primary battlefield so anything we do is just gravy to society….

corruptionless business and growth is possible in india (that is IMO no direct evidence) in this day n age but it will take dedication, absolute commitment, and a reserve fund to tide you over during approval tussles.

pankaj khandelwal said:

To me ,things become so very simple with bribes….I’d rather that we give a bribe and get our work done….its an open fact that if you do not grease the palm,you remain without business.If you act honest ,youre the only one around ,and wearing the cap of honesty honestly gets you no awards at all.. Alok is right…bend your ethics and get on ….

Koshy T January 19, 2011, 2:02 am

Abey John said:

the ethic bending issue is really subjective…but yes if u r fighting corruption in india as an entreprenuer u need deep pockets, enough redundancy in yr sales funnel to nullify the risks of government delays, an ability to avoid getting into/navigate situations where political clout or undue influence will either cripple you or become life threatening, a contingency plan to bounce back,

one possible mechanism to circumvent delays is to use RTI to flush information out of the system….you just need the guts/patience/fortitude to go for it…

of course in a state like chattisgarh or in the south of tn (Alagiri’s domain) any amount of public noise will have no effect and even if does they will still come after you with vindictive venom – “teach him a lesson, if he gets away with it then others will follow”; standard mafagiri….against such you need to go with full blinkers on and maybe a readiness to bend the rules if needed….

the war against corruption is not the entrepreneur’s primary battlefield so anything we do is just gravy to society….

corruptionless business and growth is possible in india (that is IMO no direct evidence) in this day n age but it will take dedication, absolute commitment, and a reserve fund to tide you over during approval tussles.

pankaj khandelwal said:

To me ,things become so very simple with bribes….I’d rather that we give a bribe and get our work done….its an open fact that if you do not grease the palm,you remain without business.If you act honest ,youre the only one around ,and wearing the cap of honesty honestly gets you no awards at all.. Alok is right…bend your ethics and get on ….

Koshy T January 19, 2011, 2:09 am

Corruption has two sides. Some body to give and somebody to take.
It is true that there are times when we have no option.
But is it possible to even try the following.
1. Limit bribing only as speed money ie; to speed up or to get what is due for you
2. Avoid bribe as a means to get what us not due for us or to evade our compliance requirement
3. See if we can stand up and fight wherever possible as in the case of Alok’s socks export
4. Raise a concern in forums like ipaidabribe.com. it is anonymous. It will at least build a momentum; the power of social media:-)

Unless each person make an attempt we will always be blaming the system. Or rather use it as an excuse for our
What do u think?

Abey John January 19, 2011, 3:14 am

Totally agree. I also like the express lane premium approach. The trick though is separating this from fudging on compliance requirements. The potential profits from bribing to skip compliance are way higher than your measly amounts for speedy processing.

Koshy T said:

Unless each person make an attempt we will always be blaming the system. Or rather use it as an excuse for our

What do u think?

ANSHUL GUPTA January 23, 2011, 9:42 am

@kinnari thacker dave

I think, you asked an interesting question! The story would certainly change is we look from the other side of under-the-table!

This made me realize that, the question we are asking is not right! Question is not, whether you should give or take bribe, but why (or do) we need bribe to make our life/business simpler? And if not, then please don’t me give Utopian examples like ‘Singapore’. Singaporeans have been successful, but how much they count??

My second question is totally different! Here it goes…

“Do we consider, bribing as something totally wrong?”

If yes, why? If no…then I know the reasons. But if yes, then don’t we have so many other wrongs we us too! And what if we gain after doing these wrongs? Do we still call it a wrong? And why whatever we do, is always a right???

Hoping for some thought provoking arguments in/against.

Prashant Kalantri January 25, 2011, 10:46 am

Companies like Infosys too I guess pay bribe indirectly. They appoint an agency to get the licewnses or whatever. They pay the agency by cheque and agency manages cash gifts!

There are such agents available in every Industrial estate of Maharashtra and Gujurat for sure. They take fees from companies to pay bribe to Boiler inspectors, factory inspectors, explosive inspectors and many other similar inspection agencies.

Abey John said:

I have heard that in the south of Tamil Nadu that you cant’ do business without paying off Alagiri…you just won’t get the approvals even if you stick to the letter of the law…also a friend of mine was setting up an ngo and i told her to avoid the bribe route and she kind of just laughed….virtually impossible she said….

in my own experience i went for a driving licence and decided not to pay a bribe but ended up paying Rs. 100 with a proper receipt n all before I left the place and realized that it was a bribe

if you decide not to bribe it is going to be a challenge…i have heard infosys doesn’t bribe but they have the muscle to throw a dedicated team at the system to crack through the approvals process and turn every stone till they get what they want…

its possible but you need to be ready for slower progress

Abey John January 25, 2011, 11:13 am

About Infosys: I have heard they are very strict about bribery and don’t allow it as part of their operating procedures, even indirectly like this. At least thats the impression a friend of mine who is a civil engineering consultant to Infy gave me. I could be wrong….

Prashant Kalantri said:

Companies like Infosys too I guess pay bribe indirectly. They appoint an agency to get the licewnses or whatever. They pay the agency by cheque and agency manages cash gifts!

There are such agents available in every Industrial estate of Maharashtra and Gujurat for sure. They take fees from companies to pay bribe to Boiler inspectors, factory inspectors, explosive inspectors and many other similar inspection agencies.

Abey John said:

I have heard that in the south of Tamil Nadu that you cant’ do business without paying off Alagiri…you just won’t get the approvals even if you stick to the letter of the law…also a friend of mine was setting up an ngo and i told her to avoid the bribe route and she kind of just laughed….virtually impossible she said….

in my own experience i went for a driving licence and decided not to pay a bribe but ended up paying Rs. 100 with a proper receipt n all before I left the place and realized that it was a bribe

if you decide not to bribe it is going to be a challenge…i have heard infosys doesn’t bribe but they have the muscle to throw a dedicated team at the system to crack through the approvals process and turn every stone till they get what they want…

its possible but you need to be ready for slower progress

Koshy T January 25, 2011, 2:09 pm

I certainly believe that there are many companies which have taken strict views on doing business without bribe. But they surely would have had to pay a price for this.

Then there would be some who try to avoid but would have ‘sinned’ on exceptional cases. but they try not to make a practice or make it the first option.

Some revel in this as a tool.

Would like to hear some experience when any of us could manage to say no and still survive. or what the hit u had to take…

Abey John said:

About Infosys: I have heard they are very strict about bribery and don’t allow it as part of their operating procedures, even indirectly like this. At least thats the impression a friend of mine who is a civil engineering consultant to Infy gave me. I could be wrong….

Prashant Kalantri said:

Companies like Infosys too I guess pay bribe indirectly. They appoint an agency to get the licewnses or whatever. They pay the agency by cheque and agency manages cash gifts!

There are such agents available in every Industrial estate of Maharashtra and Gujurat for sure. They take fees from companies to pay bribe to Boiler inspectors, factory inspectors, explosive inspectors and many other similar inspection agencies.

Abey John said:

I have heard that in the south of Tamil Nadu that you cant’ do business without paying off Alagiri…you just won’t get the approvals even if you stick to the letter of the law…also a friend of mine was setting up an ngo and i told her to avoid the bribe route and she kind of just laughed….virtually impossible she said….

in my own experience i went for a driving licence and decided not to pay a bribe but ended up paying Rs. 100 with a proper receipt n all before I left the place and realized that it was a bribe

if you decide not to bribe it is going to be a challenge…i have heard infosys doesn’t bribe but they have the muscle to throw a dedicated team at the system to crack through the approvals process and turn every stone till they get what they want…

its possible but you need to be ready for slower progress

Abey John January 25, 2011, 2:32 pm

It is going to take phenomenal guts and/or a solid backup plan to show the finger to a minister/official when setting up or expanding business. I think the best way to avoid this is to go stealth: quietly spread like weeds on the ground and then suddenly spring up and choke ’em. 🙂

Koshy T said:

I certainly believe that there are many companies which have taken strict views on doing business without bribe. But they surely would have had to pay a price for this.

Then there would be some who try to avoid but would have ‘sinned’ on exceptional cases. but they try not to make a practice or make it the first option.

Some revel in this as a tool.

Would like to hear some experience when any of us could manage to say no and still survive. or what the hit u had to take…

Abey John said:

About Infosys: I have heard they are very strict about bribery and don’t allow it as part of their operating procedures, even indirectly like this. At least thats the impression a friend of mine who is a civil engineering consultant to Infy gave me. I could be wrong….

Prashant Kalantri said:

Companies like Infosys too I guess pay bribe indirectly. They appoint an agency to get the licewnses or whatever. They pay the agency by cheque and agency manages cash gifts!

There are such agents available in every Industrial estate of Maharashtra and Gujurat for sure. They take fees from companies to pay bribe to Boiler inspectors, factory inspectors, explosive inspectors and many other similar inspection agencies.

Abey John said:

I have heard that in the south of Tamil Nadu that you cant’ do business without paying off Alagiri…you just won’t get the approvals even if you stick to the letter of the law…also a friend of mine was setting up an ngo and i told her to avoid the bribe route and she kind of just laughed….virtually impossible she said….

in my own experience i went for a driving licence and decided not to pay a bribe but ended up paying Rs. 100 with a proper receipt n all before I left the place and realized that it was a bribe

if you decide not to bribe it is going to be a challenge…i have heard infosys doesn’t bribe but they have the muscle to throw a dedicated team at the system to crack through the approvals process and turn every stone till they get what they want…

its possible but you need to be ready for slower progress

Koshy T January 27, 2011, 3:13 pm

Even though in india we have to bribe some people all the time and many people some time we still dont have to bribe all the people all the time or even all the people some time.

But then we cannot blame the taker alone.

many a time some people want to pay because they want to get something they are not supposed to get or want to avoid complying to some rule.

If we really have to root out corruption, we also have to make an attempt.

if more people attempt more often we can reduce the prevelence.

remember the plague attack in surat. it was then one of the dirtiest city. everybody thought nothing could be done

but the plague attack brought together the whole city to make it a cleaner place.

forum like this can act as catalyst i think.

we should also support initiatives like wikileaks and ipaidabribe.com

Jyoti Shukla said:

@Neil: true.. I didn’t want to sound pessimistic but this discussion keeps me thinking; is is possible to do ANYTHING in India without bribery:(

Neil Bahal said:

Well Infy is in an industry where bribery is not needed for most things.

But imagine the nightmare that people in Retail, Oil&Gas, Power etc have to go through in this country. Its almost impossible to run a business without bribing the babus.

Shridhar Thoda January 30, 2011, 3:20 pm

Hi Alok

I want you to come and take a session for my MBA (Family Managed Business) kids at NMIMS.

I’m teaching BUSINESS ETHICS, but have taken a radically different approach by combining my Business+Finance+Spiritual background to create a fresh experience that make them DARE TO THINK. I’ve just had a session on CREATING WIN WIN BUSINESS MODELS and have inadvertently referred to you and your businesses.

I was trying to reach you on the phone to check if you can take one session. I’m sure it will be very inspiring and leave enough for me to follow it up in the form of hard-core lessons.

Sincerely

Shridhar

Alok ‘Rodinhood’ Kejriwal said:

In 1996, I was shipping my first container of socks to the Netherlands.

It had taken me 3 years to get one order of Rs 3 lacs.

I met the shipping deadline just on time and thankfully was able to send the container to the docks (that happened to be very near my father’s factory).

I was of sitting on my desk and taking a few deep breaths when I got a call on my desk phone (mobile was unaffordable).

My manager on the other line sounded tense and said that there was a CUSTOMS OFFICER who wanted to talk to me.

He came on the line and said ‘Mr. Alok, I think these socks being exported by you are UNDER invoiced. They are surely worth more than 3 lacs. I think there may be a case where you are taking the rest of the money overseas’.

First I tried to reason with him and explained that tax free export status made it more profitable for anyone to receive and bill all the money in India. I refused to even hear me. Then I got a bit more aggressive and asked him what his experience in evaluating sock prices were… he just shrugged of the question.

Finally, I said ‘Fine – why dont you pay me Rs 3 lacs and 1 rupee and the entire consignment is yours. If there is an under invoicing, I will pay the price and your department can auction it – like you do for flats and make profits’.

This struck him hard. He started mumbling about ‘co-operation’ and trying to ‘understand’.

I refused to yield, and finally he stamped the documents required.

Later my manager told me that we wanted Rs 500!